Bike photography
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Bike photography
Postby Lots of steel bikes » Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:47 pm
- GaryF
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Re: Bike photography
Postby GaryF » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:01 pm
Do I ever think of these things when I take a photo of a bike? No!
- toolonglegs
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:02 pm
I haven't done many... quite like to do more but haven't got around to it.
French 1940's velo / bicycle
French 1940's velo / bicycle
French 1940's velo / bicycle
Simplex plunger/push-rod derailleur
French Cycling Components
Simplex Tour de France derailleur 1940's
Simplex plunger/push-rod derailleur
French Cycling Components
Simplex Tour de France derailleur 1940's
Simplex plunger/push-rod derailleur
French Cycling Components
Simplex Tour de France derailleur 1940's
1984 Raymond Poulidor Bicycle
- ldrcycles
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- toolonglegs
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:21 pm
Don't think I will have much trouble with a SIMPLEx
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Lots of steel bikes » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:30 pm
Well, this will be embarrassing!
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:37 pm
If you have an SLR camera shoot it on a longer lense to blur out the back ground a bit and make the bike stand out a bit, it will also reduce the distortion that happens when shooting on a wider lense.
If you haven't got your own lighting ( most people )... shot it in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is a bit lower and the light is a bit warmer. It will make all the metal work sparkle.
Get photoshop or similar for the finishing touches .
- ldrcycles
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Re: Bike photography
Postby ldrcycles » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:44 pm
Or to follow the 'instagram' fad (although i did this on photobucket and i think it suits the bike)
Oh and TLL, i took over a month to reassemble a SunTour VX GT once!
- Clydesdale Scot
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:56 pm
Aesthetic examples:
Tyre labels in line with tyre innertube valves.
Quick releases both on non drive side.
Saddle horizontal to the ground
bottom of drops horizontal to the ground/or lined up to point at the rear brake. I read it in the internetz.
One neat strip of tape around the bar tape to finish of
hub logo on front hub should face the same as rear and read from the right.
-Rim labels should read from the right.
-Cable routing to be as neat as neat can be.
-Seat and bar tape to be the same colour. Or not. It depends.
etc, etc
Photographing
Valves both at the lowest point, highest point or somewhere else as long as they're in the same place. Can be hidden to astound if no tyre labels present.
logo on crankset should be upright
-Photograph should be from the right.
-Geared bikes should have chain on big ring.
-seat post should show sufficiently, but bars & saddle to be same height. (Rando-luv)
-pedals should be fixed in the ridden position, not at rest. (by tightening bearings just for the shot. Ha.)
-Angle of shot should be such that lh drop is all but hidden by rh drop.
-Downtube shifters should be parallel.
-Either lh crank to be in line with seat tube, or rh crank in line with chain stay, ahead or behind bottom bracket. In line with something anyways.
-Background to be unconfusing. And any lines to speak to frame tubing.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:06 pm
Nice pic with Massey Ferg .
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Clydesdale Scot » Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:24 pm
But he doesn't follow all the rules^^
- hiflange
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Re: Bike photography
Postby hiflange » Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:39 pm
I earn a crust as a phototgrapher (credentials here). You can write all the "rules" you want but good photography comes back to content, composition and lighting. The rules above apply mostly to composition.
Bikes are a really tough subject. A bike is bunch of skinny tubes with a lot of air in between. Air is invisible. You should give some, actually a lot, of thought into what is going to fill that space. Garage doors, brick walls and white, black or grey in a studio are the most popular options, they're the ones that provide the most reward per unit of effort.
Check out these two posts on Cycle Exif. They've broken plenty of rules but you have to agree the photos are beautiful. And it's mostly because the photographers have considered the location for the shoot, the lighting and the composition, which isn't always about the bike. Mind you, they're pretty nice bikes
http://www.cycleexif.com/chiossi-cycles-gloria" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.cycleexif.com/kinfolk-autumn-2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Tinker » Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:02 am
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Re: Bike photography
Postby ldrcycles » Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:35 am
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Tinker » Sun Nov 04, 2012 1:03 pm
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Re: Bike photography
Postby ghostpoet » Sun Nov 04, 2012 2:57 pm
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Re: Bike photography
Postby frailer5 » Sun Nov 04, 2012 6:04 pm
The shots I put up of the Pegasus in 'Let's see what...' kind of show that, I think (Gallery link there). Not a big fan of the 90º/0º level shot. IMO, getting angles (vertical and horizontal together), is the main prerequisite. Then there's ugly stuff in the background to be left out/taken out.
Yes, early morning/late afternoon give better light, too, as suggested earlier.
These are all very amateur suggestions; I'm no pro.
Ricardo Elite, '87 Keith Davis/Pegasus, '92 Team Miyata Ti.
- hiflange
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Re: Bike photography
Postby hiflange » Sun Nov 04, 2012 6:33 pm
Too kind. You'll notice I haven't been game to put up any of my bike pics though!ghostpoet wrote:I was going to dob Frithy in, but he did it himself. If he can polish the t#rd that is Port Hedland, he is the man to speak to...great chap too.
No link, am I missing something? Want to see..frailer5 wrote:The shots I put up of the Pegasus in 'Let's see what...' kind of show that, I think (Gallery link there)
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Stuey » Sun Nov 04, 2012 8:01 pm
Yeah, with a light box....although I'm not saying TLL used one (and not Photoshop).Tinker wrote:Can you create that white room look at home? Or is there some photo-shopping involved with those type shots?
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Lots of steel bikes » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:05 pm
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Re: Bike photography
Postby frailer5 » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:09 pm
Pegasus LinkRobertFrith wrote: No link, am I missing something? Want to see..
Taken with a Fujifilm S1600, not a particularly high-end camera.
Ricardo Elite, '87 Keith Davis/Pegasus, '92 Team Miyata Ti.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:21 pm
Lots of steel bikes wrote:
Very nice! Do you have a pre photoshop image you could show and perhaps share some of the photoshop techniques you used to get to the final image.
My apologies if no photoshop used.
the pre-photo shop image would be a raw file... All I would have done is brightened it up. Cant remember exactly but probably used 3 lights... 2 on the background and one front on. The front on one would have blasted through a white sheet (as metal only reflects what it sees, you need a big white light source to get the nice reflections ).
Photography is my job as well http://icj.carbonmade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But usually people
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Re: Bike photography
Postby rkelsen » Tue Nov 06, 2012 10:21 am
Probably didn't need one, eh? Very neat bike though! And the Kenevans too.
I had to make these comments although they contribute nothing to the topic. Sorry.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Bike photography
Postby toolonglegs » Tue Nov 06, 2012 6:43 pm
- Ferrovelo
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Re: Bike photography
Postby Ferrovelo » Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:25 pm
Very timely for me as Ive just finished off a bike and I'm waiting for some nice weather to try a get a few pictures before I hand it over to its new owner.
I agree that a great backdrop can make a big difference. A couple of my favorite bike pictures are ‘real’ scenes from my travels with the bike itself in the background rather than being the main subject.
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